I was at a meeting this week where Bill spoke and I asked him specifically about how he felt being on the other side of the table. He said that he liked it and it was interesting to watch the teams (who he describes as train wrecks) work out their tasks, knowing about the pressure, sleep deprivation, etc.. I told him I thought it was a good comment he made to them about this not being an alliance game. He said that during the task he spoke to the PM about protecting friends, that this wasn't what the whole thing was about. So to comment to an earlier post, it sounded like he spent some time coaching a bit from the sidelines which wasn't shown.

He also stated that during his show, Omarosa approached him and asked if he wanted to be in alliance with him. His response - "Alliance? I think you're confusing this show with another one!"

"I thought I was dreaming," DePandi tells PEOPLE. "It was the most amazing moment of my entire life. Not only is Bill the love of my life, but he's also my best friend. I couldn't believe my dream guy was asking me to marry him!"

In a scene more worthy of a final episode of The Bachelor, Rancic sent a limo to pick DePandi up at the airport when she arrived in Chicago from L.A. Friday night. Instead of taking her to his apartment, the limo dropped her off at a nearby helipad.

"He met her there with deep-dish pizza, which is her favorite, and champagne," says the couple's rep, Jim Dowd.

Rancic then whisked her off on a helicopter ride over downtown Chicago, including a fly-by of the holiday lights on Michigan Avenue. "He proposed to her mid-air while they were getting a tour of Chicago," Dowd added.

When they got back to his apartment, DePandi was welcomed with rose petals scattered everywhere and chocolate cake.

DePandi, 31, and Rancic, 35, first met when DePandi interviewed Rancic, the winner of the first season of Donald Trump's reality series, more than two years ago. While the pair continued to see each other at other events, it was during an interview at a Boys & Girls Club in Santa Monica 10 months ago that DePandi asked Rancic (on-camera) if he was dating anyone. He wasn't. After the cameras stopped rolling, Rancic asked her out.

Rancic, an entrepreneur who still consults with The Trump Organization, will appear once again as one of The Donald's advisers on the next season of The Apprentice. DePandi, who started as a correspondent on E!, has been serving as E! News anchor and Managing Editor since 2005.

The couple plans to wed in late 2007 in the south of Italy, where DePandi grew up.

I remember being surprised when Bill won the first season, because Kwame seemed a much better fit, with his Harvard and Goldman Sachs background. Bill, I thought, was too entrepreneurial and, therefore, less likely to be a team player, which are traits that, generally, are not considered to be well-suited to a corporate environment. Bill also struck me as someone who was used to giving orders, rather than taking them, and he also had a tendency to be very blunt (does anyone remember the Vegas task, where he kept referring to the other team's models as "hookers??? ), while Kwame, on the other hand, seemed more polished, and circumspect, and displayed the demeanor of one who can accept orders, when he has to, as well as give them. But they were both the best candidates that this show has ever seen, and if TA could find candidates of this caliber again, the show would get it's ratings (and it's credibility) back.

Congrats to Bill on his upcoming marriage. As far as his qualifications. I think Trump doesn't like total yes men he wants go getters people who can think for themselves and on their feet. Bill was a much better fit for Trump than Kwame. Kwame was a suit, a highly educated suit but still a suit. He will fit into corporate America, but as far as being an entrepeneur, take risks, think outside the box I don't think so.

Awww! Good for him! My husband proposed to me in Chicago too...in one of the cars of the giant ferris wheel at the Pier. He got down on one knee and everything!

I just read this little news snippet to my husband....he thought since Trump luuuuvs his helicopter so much, perhaps he suggested the method of proposal to Bill. ("I'm getting in my helicopter, to propose to my girlfriend...she's so lucky to have me!")